Coulson faces re-trial over alleged royal payments

British prime minister David Cameron’s ex-media chief Andy Coulson — found guilty over phone hacking while editing a Rupert Murdoch tabloid — will stand trial for a second time over alleged illegal payments.

Coulson was convicted by a jury of being complicit in widespread tapping of voicemails by journalists at Murdoch’s now defunct News of the World following an eight-month trial at London’s Old Bailey.

However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether Coulson and the paper’s former royal editor, Clive Goodman, were guilty of making illegal payments to a police officer to obtain telephone directories for Britain’s royal family. They denied the accusations.